Dawn, Fla. (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe lifted a backhander just underneath the crossbar 2:59 into time beyond regulation, and the Florida Panthers conquer the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday night time for a 2- direct in their NHL to start with-round playoff collection.
It was the fifth OT winner in Verhaeghe’s profession, coming on a perform exactly where Matthew Tkachuk received the puck to Anton Lundell — who discovered Verhaeghe. He waited for Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to commit, then put the puck in excess of him to conclusion it.
Sam Bennett, who remaining with an injury in the next period of time when he appeared to get hit by teammate Brandon Montour’s slap shot, and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 photographs, which includes some highlight-reel will save.
Braden Level and Steven Stamkos scored for Tampa Bay, which bought two helps from Victor Hedman. Vasilevskiy stopped 34 pictures.
Bobrovsky experienced two wild saves in the next period — 1 off his mask, the other a no-glimpse dive that he obtained basically with his again to the engage in to deny Lightning defenseman Matt Dumba and maintain what was then a 2-2 tie.
And it stayed that way, all the way until finally the unexpected finish.
It was 2- Florida after a single, with Bennett scoring at 6:16 — the Lightning unsuccessfully challenged that target for goaltender interference — and Tarasenko connecting approximately 9 minutes afterwards. The Panthers controlled the opening 15 minutes, just like they did in Match 1, outshooting the Lightning 12-1 and the two-goal direct held up heading into the 2nd period of time.
That is when the Lightning — who boast a roster loaded with Stanley Cup hoisters — showed their postseason poise.
Issue scored 48 seconds into the 2nd to lower the guide in fifty percent. Stamkos — who was an inch away from a electrical power-play tally in the opening period — obtained just one at 5:48 of the second to tie the sport. It was his patented a person-timer, just like the one he took a interval earlier that got earlier Bobrovsky’s glove but strike the goalpost with this sort of drive that the rebound skipped all the way out of the zone.
So, Florida had missing two factors — the guide, and Bennett. He left early in the 2nd period, seeming to maintain his wrist, and went straight down the tunnel towards the Panthers’ locker home as shortly as he got off the ice. He did not return, with the Panthers contacting it an higher-overall body injuries.
Equally groups frittered away odds in the third.
The Lightning — who experienced the most effective electricity perform in the NHL for the duration of the normal season at 28.6% — experienced a 4-minute male advantage early in the third soon after Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen was whistled for higher-sticking Erik Cernak.
Florida killed that off, then had a chance for a electricity play of its personal when Tampa Bay’s Nicholas Paul interfered with Sam Reinhart. The electric power enjoy lasted four seconds, over ahead of it begun mainly because Verhaeghe was called for slashing Tampa Bay’s Luke Glendening.
UP Following
Match 3 is Thursday in Tampa.
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